Construction is the one ironman skill where the wall is coins. Every plank you place is a log you chopped or collected, plus a fee at a sawmill: 250 coins for an oak plank, 500 for teak, 1,500 for mahogany. A main account buys 90,000 mahogany planks and is done in a weekend. You pay the sawmill for every one of them, after cutting the logs.
This guide follows the OSRS Wiki's Ironman Guide/Construction and Construction training pages, checked as of 22 October 2026, and adds the supply side: where every plank, bar and block comes from, what each training route costs in coins, and what the player-owned house is actually for on an ironman.
The three rules of ironman Construction
- Coins, not XP rates, pick the method. Sawmill fees are the cost of the skill. Mahogany Homes gets two and a half to three times the XP out of each plank, which makes it the cheapest route to 99 by a wide margin.
- Set up a log supply before you need it. Managing Miscellania on hardwood, Forestry sawmill vouchers and Sailing sawmill coupons all lower the cost before you build anything.
- Train to checkpoints. The POH unlocks that change an ironman account sit at 47, 50, 65, 72, 80 and 90, and boosts take up to 8 levels off the furniture ones.
Levels 1-15: Quests and Passive XP
Start with Daddy's Home, the miniquest from Marlo at the Varrock estate agent. It gives 944 Construction XP in total (400 as the reward and 544 from the furniture you build), which takes you from 1 to 8, plus a player-owned house and a crate of Construction supplies. You need 10 regular planks (not oak or better), 5 bolts of cloth from a sawmill at 650 coins each, and at least 16 nails. Otherwise a house costs 1,000 coins from any estate agent and starts in Rimmington.
Quests that reward Construction XP, from the wiki's table:
| Quest | Construction XP | Construction needed | Other requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Eyes of Glouphrie | 250 | 5 | 46 Magic, 45 Woodcutting |
| At First Light | 800 | 27 | 30 Herblore, 46 Hunter |
| Tower of Life | 1,000 | 10 | None |
| Cold War | 1,500 | 34 | 10 Hunter, 30 Agility, 30 Crafting, 15 Thieving |
| Darkness of Hallowvale | 2,000 | 5 | 26 Agility, 20 Mining, 22 Thieving, 32 Crafting, 33 Magic, 40 Strength |
| The Great Brain Robbery | 2,000 | 30 | 16 Crafting, 50 Prayer |
| Shadows of Custodia | 3,000 | 41 | 54 Slayer, 45 Fishing, 36 Hunter |
| Getting Ahead | 3,200 | 26 | 30 Crafting |
| Scrambled! | 5,000 | 38 | 36 Cooking, 35 Smithing |
| The Fremennik Isles | 5,000 | 20 | 40 Agility, 46 Crafting, 56 Woodcutting |
| Making Friends with My Arm | 10,000 | 35 | 66 Firemaking, 72 Mining, 68 Agility |
| Song of the Elves | 40,000 | 70 | 70 in Agility, Farming, Herblore, Hunter, Mining, Smithing and Woodcutting |
The Eyes of Glouphrie matters more for its reward than its XP: it gives the crystal saw seed (see Boosts).
Passive XP that costs no planks, per the wiki:
- Wintertodt: repairing a brazier gives 4 times your Construction level, but only if you own a house. The ironman guide says to get Construction to 20 before a long Wintertodt grind.
- Tempoross: fixing damaged totem poles gives the same 4 times your level, and the reward pool hands out regular and oak planks.
- Fishing Trawler: 5 XP per leak fixed. The wiki estimates 11,220 Construction XP across the 44 games it takes on average to finish the angler's outfit.
- Vale Totems: the Varlamore Fletching minigame gives Construction XP equal to your level for each totem built, again only if you own a house.
- Barlak: from 30 Construction, hand long and curved bones to Barlak in Dorgesh-Kaan (Death to the Dorgeshuun) for XP and coins.
The Ironman Plank Problem: Every Plank Source
Sawmills and Plank Make
Every plank type comes from the matching log. The sawmill operator converts unnoted logs in your inventory for a flat fee per plank, and Plank Make does the same for 70% of that fee plus runes. XP per plank is the same whatever you build, except on mounted mythical capes and Mahogany Homes contracts.
| Plank | Sawmill fee | Plank Make fee | XP per plank in a POH | Average XP per plank on Mahogany Homes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plank | 100 | 70 | 29 | 93.7 (Beginner) |
| Oak plank | 250 | 175 | 60 | 200.0 (Novice) |
| Teak plank | 500 | 350 | 90, or 123.3 on mounted mythical capes | 287.9 (Adept) |
| Mahogany plank | 1,500 | 1,050 | 140 | 346.1 (Expert) |
| Camphor plank | 2,500 | 1,750 | Not used in a POH | Not used |
| Ironwood plank | 5,000 | 3,500 | Not used in a POH | Not used |
| Rosewood plank | 7,500 | 5,250 | Not used in a POH | Not used |
The sawmills, from the wiki's sawmill page:
| Sawmill | Steps to nearest bank | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Lumber Yard, north-east of Varrock | 89 | None |
| Woodcutting Guild | 44 | 60 Woodcutting |
| Prifddinas | 60 | Song of the Elves |
| Auburnvale, Varlamore | 26 | Children of the Sun |
All four share one shop, which also sells saws, bolts of cloth at 650 coins and bronze, iron and steel nails. Since May 2024 its stock is no longer shared between the ironman, ultimate ironman and group ironman modes.
Plank Make needs 86 Magic and Dream Mentor. Each cast converts one log for 2 astral runes, 1 nature rune, 15 earth runes and 70% of the sawmill fee, and gives 90 Magic XP. On an ironman the astral runes are the real cost (Baba Yaga's is the only shop that sells them); see the Magic guide for rune sources.
Butlers can take logs to the sawmill for you. The butler (40 Construction) carries 20 items and the demon butler (50) carries 26. You pay the sawmill fee plus their wages, and sawmill vouchers do not work through them.
Logs, discounts and free planks
- Managing Miscellania gives logs, not planks. After Royal Trouble, 10 workers on hardwood with at least 750,000 coins in the coffers (a daily wage of up to 75,000) bring in up to 301 teak, 223 mahogany, or 121 of each per day, straight to your bank. The ironman guide suggests 5 workers on hardwood if you also want maple logs for Fletching: mahogany is faster Construction but costs more to convert, teak saves money. Ultimate ironmen cannot use it, because rewards go to the bank.
- Forestry sawmill vouchers: 10 for 150 anima-infused bark from the Forestry Shop. Each voucher gives an extra plank per log at a sawmill or with Plank Make, so it halves the logs you need. You must have inventory or plank sack space for the second plank, or the voucher is not used.
- Sailing sawmill coupons: convert one log of a matching type for no coins. Wood and oak coupons come from shipwreck salvaging, lost crate encounters and courier tasks; teak, mahogany, camphor and ironwood coupons come only from courier tasks. There is no rosewood coupon, and coupons do not work with Plank Make or stack with vouchers. Sorting salvage and opening port reward bags also gives planks and logs directly. See the shipwreck salvaging guide.
- Tempoross: the reward pool gives regular and oak planks along with its other ironman supplies.
- Intelligence Gathering: Captain Ginea in the Shayzien Encampment tells you where the gangs will appear, and the gangsters drop every type of plank, noted.
- Plank spawns: the ironman guide recommends the Barbarian Outpost and Port Khazard spawns, both near a bank. Varlamore adds six at Shipwreck Cove and more in Civitas illa Fortis, the Tlati Rainforest and the Colossal Wyrm Remains.
- Razmire Builders' Merchants in Mort'ton (Shades of Mort'ton) stocks 10 planks. Its stock has been separate for ironmen since 28 January 2026.
- Supply crates from the Mahogany Homes reward shop cost 25 carpenter points and contain Construction materials.
- Late game: the wiki names the Chambers of Xeric, Zulrah and Callisto as combat sources of Construction supplies, and the Wintertodt reward cart gives logs that scale with your Woodcutting.
Sailing planks are not POH planks
Camphor, ironwood and rosewood planks are Sailing materials. They go into boat parts, facilities, rowboat spaces and the repair kits and hull parts you make at a shipwrights' workbench, which does give Construction XP (see Shipwrights' workbench). No POH furniture uses them, so do not plan your house around them.
Plank-making loops
The ironman guide's comparison of ways to turn trees into planks, with the sawmill page's rates where it gives them:
| Method | Planks | Requirements | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auburnvale sawmill with banked logs | All | Children of the Sun | Closest sawmill to a bank. Up to 5,400 planks an hour, or 6,400 with a log basket and plank sack |
| Woodcutting Guild sawmill with kingdom logs | Oak plus teak or mahogany | 60 Woodcutting, plank sack | Convert kingdom logs into the sack, cut an inventory of the guild's oaks, convert, bank: equal numbers of both per trip |
| Prifddinas teak and mahogany trees | Teak, mahogany | Song of the Elves | Upwards of 500 planks an hour, plus crystal shards, implings and Forestry events |
| Fossil Island mahogany plus demon butler | Mahogany | 50 Woodcutting (61+ recommended), 55 Farming, Bone Voyage; 70 Agility shortcut and 70 Construction pool recommended | The wiki's fastest way to bank Construction: up to 110,000 Woodcutting and 120,000 banked Construction XP an hour at 99 Woodcutting with 1.5-tick woodcutting |
| Ape Atoll teak plus butler | Teak | 35 Woodcutting, 67 Construction, 90 Magic, Monkey Madness I | Ape Atoll Teleport out, house tablet in, butler to the sawmill |
| Rimmington oaks plus butler | Oak | 15 Woodcutting, 50 Construction | House in Rimmington, cut the oaks north-east of the portal |
| Farming Guild butler loop | All | 85 Farming, 75 Construction, two spirit saplings | Spirit tree in the guild and one in your house. Saves law runes and avoids PvP risk |
| PvP-world butler loop | All | 45 Magic | About 7,000 planks an hour from the Camelot bank chest, but other players can enter your house and attack you |
Hardcore ironmen: two plank tricks involve PvP
The PvP-world butler loop puts you next to other players in a PvP world, and the Lumber Yard trick of filling a looting bag just north of the sawmill takes you into the Wilderness. The wiki points hardcore ironmen at the Farming Guild butler loop instead of the PvP world, and at cutting the oaks beside the Lumber Yard and running the planks back on foot instead of the looting bag. See the HCIM guide for the general rules.
What It Costs in Coins
The wiki's plank counts per route, multiplied by the sawmill fee. These are fees only: servant wages, steel bars and teleports come on top.
| Route | Planks needed | Sawmill fees |
|---|---|---|
| Adept Mahogany Homes, 50-99 | 44,924 teak | 22.5 million |
| Mounted mythical capes, 50-99 | 104,865 teak | 52.4 million |
| Expert Mahogany Homes, 70-99 | 35,531 mahogany | 53.3 million |
| Oak furniture (larders, then doors), 15-99 | 217,201 oak | 54.3 million |
| Teak garden benches, 66-99 | 139,314 teak | 69.7 million |
| Mahogany tables and gnome benches, 52-99 | 92,214 mahogany | 138.3 million |
Per XP, that is 3.45 coins for regular planks in a house, 4.17 for oak, 5.56 for teak, 4.05 for teak on mythical capes and 10.71 for mahogany. On Mahogany Homes the same planks cost 1.07, 1.25, 1.74 and 4.33 coins per XP. Both Mahogany Homes plank counts are sums of the wiki's milestone estimates, so expect them to vary by about 10% either way.
The time trade-off is real, and the ironman guide is honest about it: mounted mythical capes give up to three times the XP an hour of Adept contracts, and it reckons that time saving only pays for the extra logs and coins if you can make around 600,000 coins an hour elsewhere. At the wiki's rates, 50 to 99 is about 65 to 85 hours of Adept contracts with a plank sack, or about 30 hours of mythical capes at the 430,000 XP an hour maximum.
For an ironman the coins mostly come from High Level Alchemy on Slayer and boss drops, as the wiki's Ironman Guide describes; see the money making guide. Logs are the other half: a kingdom on teak brings in 301 a day, enough for about 26 Adept contracts at the wiki's average of 11.63 planks each.
Other Construction Materials and Where Ironmen Get Them
| Material | XP when used | Ironman source |
|---|---|---|
| Steel bar | 20 | Smelt 1 iron ore and 2 coal at 30 Smithing. Mahogany Homes uses about 0.4 to 0.5 per contract, around 36 an hour on Adept. See the Smithing guide |
| Nails | With regular planks | Regular planks need nails; oak and better do not. The sawmill shop sells bronze (2 coins), iron (5) and steel nails (3); use steel or better, since lower tiers bend more often. Mahogany Homes needs no nails |
| Bolt of cloth | 15 | The sawmill shop, 650 coins each. The wiki calls it one of the only places to get them without trading |
| Limestone brick | 20 | Chisel limestone at 12 Crafting, or buy from Razmire in Mort'ton (21 coins, Shades of Mort'ton), the Keldagrim Stonemason or Stonecutter Supplies (26) |
| Soft clay | 10 | Use water on clay, cast Humidify, or mine clay wearing a bracelet of clay. Soft clay packs (100 each) cost 10 golden nuggets at the Motherlode Mine. Every teleport tablet you make at a lectern uses one |
| Marble block | 500 | Keldagrim Stonemason (20 in stock) or Stonecutter Supplies (30), 325,000 coins each |
| Gold leaf | 300 | Keldagrim Stonemason (20) or Stonecutter Supplies (40), 130,000 coins each |
| Magic stone | 1,000 | Keldagrim Stonemason or Stonecutter Supplies (10 each), 975,000 coins each |
Keldagrim needs The Giant Dwarf started; the Stonecutter Outpost is in the Avium Savannah, so it needs Children of the Sun for Varlamore. Both shops raise their price as you buy down the stock. Marble, gold leaf and magic stones are where the late POH gets expensive: the ornate pool alone takes 2 marble blocks and 5 gold leaf, about 1.3 million coins at base price.
Tools: a saw (13 coins at the sawmill) and a hammer. Amy's saw from the Mahogany Homes shop (500 points) can be worn in the off-hand to free a slot, and the crystal saw is a saw and a boost in one.
Training Methods
Levels 1-33: Early furniture
The wiki's route to 33. Regular planks need nails; switch to oak at 15, because oak furniture is faster and needs none.
| Levels | Build | Room | Materials each | XP each | Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-4 | Crude wooden chair | Parlour | 2 planks, 2+ steel nails | 58 | 5 |
| 4-9 | Wooden bookcase | Parlour | 4 planks, 4+ steel nails | 115 | 7 |
| 9-15 | Wooden larder | Kitchen | 8 planks, 8+ steel nails | 228 | 7 |
| 15-16 | Repair bench | Workshop | 2 oak planks | 120 | 3 |
| 16-22 | Crafting table 1 | Workshop | 4 oak planks | 240 | 12 |
| 22-31 | Oak dining table | Dining room | 4 oak planks | 240 | 39 |
| 31-33 | Carved oak table | Dining room | 6 oak planks | 360 | 10 |
| 1-33 | 94 planks, 270 oak planks, about 188 steel nails |
Up to 40, keep your house in Rimmington and unnote planks at Phials in the general store for 5 coins each.
Levels 33-52: Oak larders
Oak larders in the kitchen take 8 oak planks for 480 XP. From 33 to 52 that is 220 larders and 1,760 oak planks. The wiki says perfect clicking reaches 500,000 XP an hour from 50, with 480,000 to 490,000 more realistic.
Servants. At 40, hire a butler from the Servants' Guild in East Ardougne; you need two bedrooms with beds first. The butler costs 5,000 coins per 8 services and carries 20 items; at 50 the demon butler costs 10,000 and carries 26. The wiki says every servant below the butler is slower than walking to Phials. At 58, a servant's money bag in a bedroom pays them automatically. Servants never deliver planks into a plank sack.
Levels 52-99: Mahogany tables and gnome benches
The fastest Construction in the game, and the most expensive. A mahogany table (52, dining room) takes 6 mahogany planks for 840 XP; the wiki puts it at up to 900,000 XP an hour and says 52 to 77 takes about two hours with good attention. At 77, gnome benches in the superior garden use the same 6 planks for the same 840 XP, and alternating between the two adjacent bench spaces pushes it just over 1,100,000 an hour.
From 52 to 99 that is 92,214 mahogany planks and 138.3 million coins in sawmill fees. For an ironman this is a late-game method: a kingdom on mahogany for months, plenty of income, and a good reason to buy the time.
Levels 50-99: Mounted mythical capes
Dragon Slayer II, which itself needs 50 Construction, gives you a mythical cape you can mount in the quest hall. Each mount takes 3 teak planks and the cape, gives 370 XP (123.3 per teak plank instead of 90), and returns the cape when removed. The wiki puts it at up to around 430,000 XP an hour. Keep an equipable item in your inventory: you cannot remove a mounted cape with a full inventory of planks.
The wiki's main Ironman Guide says players who put the kingdom on hardwood generally choose teak, for mythical capes.
Levels 66+: Teak garden benches and oak doors
- Teak garden benches (66, superior garden): 6 teak planks for 540 XP. Up to 700,000 XP an hour with perfect timing, with 500,000 to 600,000 more typical.
- Oak doors (74, in a dungeon, which needs 70): 10 oak planks for 600 XP, up to around 550,000 XP an hour with a demon butler fetching 25 planks, or over 500,000 even with occasional mistakes fetching 20. Oak is cheaper per XP than teak benches or mahogany.
Mahogany Homes (1-99)
Mahogany Homes is the ironman method. You take a contract from Amy south of Falador Park (afterwards also from Marlo in Varrock, Ellie in East Ardougne or Angelo in Hosidius), travel to the client's house in Falador, Varrock, East Ardougne or Hosidius, and repair or replace the marked furniture. You need a hammer, a saw, the planks of your tier and sometimes a steel bar, but no nails. Finishing a contract pays a block of XP plus carpenter points, and the client's cup of tea refills your run energy.
| Tier | Level | Planks | Points | Completion XP | Average XP per plank | XP per hour | XP per hour with plank sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 1 | Regular | 2 | 500 | 93.7 | 30,000-35,000 | 35,000-40,000 |
| Novice | 20 | Oak | 3 | 1,250 | 200.0 | 65,000-75,000 | 75,000-85,000 |
| Adept | 50 | Teak | 4 | 2,250 | 287.9 | 130,000-150,000 | 155,000-200,000 |
| Expert | 70 | Mahogany | 5 | 2,750 | 346.1 | 165,000-190,000 | 190,000-270,000 |
The wiki adds that Astral Contact and efficient teleports are worth up to 20-30% more, and that the carpenter's outfit can push a very efficient player to around 300,000 an hour. Contract tiers are boostable, but the crystal saw's invisible boost does not count, and contracts cannot be cancelled. Many players keep doing Adept contracts past 70 because mahogany costs three times as much.
Average plank counts, from the wiki (expect about 10% either way):
| Levels | Oak planks | Teak planks | Mahogany planks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-20 | 48 regular planks | ||
| 20-50 | 485 | ||
| 50-70 | 3,182 | 2,211 | |
| 70-83 | 9,678 | 6,723 | 5,593 |
| 83-99 | 51,807 | 35,990 | 29,938 |
Reward shop order: the plank sack first (350 points; holds 28 planks of any type, weightless, usable straight from the sack), then the carpenter's outfit in any order (helmet 400, shirt 800, trousers 600, boots 200; 2.5% bonus XP on contracts with the full set). Amy's saw is 500 points and supply crates are 25.
Mahogany Homes setup (Adept)
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FillThe wiki's recommended setup. A charged Xeric's talisman covers Hosidius, and the rune pouch is for Astral Contact.
Ironman setup notes from the wiki:
- Move your house to Hosidius (25 Construction): its portal is close to Barbara's house in southern Hosidius. Wear a charged Xeric's talisman for Leela's and Mariah's houses.
- From 50 Construction and 51 Magic, a portal chamber with portals to Varrock, East Ardougne and Falador puts every contract one house tablet away. At 72 the portal nexus and a mounted Xeric's talisman do the same in one room.
- For ironmen who would rather not make piles of teleport tablets, the wiki suggests a mist battlestaff with soul, law, astral and cosmic runes, using Recharge Dragonstone on a skills necklace for the Mining Guild teleport to Falador.
- With 86 Magic and Dream Mentor you can carry a log basket of logs and cast Plank Make between contracts, with sawmill vouchers for two planks per cast.
Shipwrights' workbench (Sailing)
After Pandemonium, planks can be turned into boat repair kits and hull parts at a shipwrights' workbench. The wiki says planks are worth roughly half as much XP each as in a house, but the products are something you use, there is up to 29 seconds of idle time per inventory, and a plank sack feeds the workbench directly. The best bank setups are Port Khazard (5 tiles; 30 Sailing to dock there) and Red Rock (2 tiles; 52 Sailing and part of The Red Reef). Ironwood and rosewood repair kits produce more items than they use, so leave free inventory space for them.
Construction also gates Sailing directly: boat facilities and core boat parts check your Construction level, the crystal saw boost works on both, and since December 2025 planks in a plank sack can be used to build facilities. See the Sailing guide.
For a click-light dual-skill option, repairing the fishing cranes in Port Piscarilius (30 Construction and 30 Crafting) gives 4 times your level in both skills per repair, for 3 planks and at least 9 nails.
